SCOTT SIMPSON

Your Cook, Servant, and Missional Host

With a culinary career spanning over 35 years in elite professional kitchens, I worked my way from dishwasher on up to Executive Chef, leading culinary launches and food operations at premier ultra-luxury resorts across three continents.

For decades, I aggressively pursued a path built on precise craftsmanship, high-stakes competition and world-class recognition.

That journey eventually brought me to Alabama to serve as a Culinary Instructor with the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality at Auburn University, where I transitioned to become the Founding Executive Chef and Co-Owner of The Depot in the heart of the Plains.

Yet, looking back today through the eyes of faith, it is clear a much Higher Hand was orchestrating the entire voyage.

The Lord was quietly utilizing the kitchen and the challenging circumstances of those remote, international assignments as a discipleship training ground, prepping me for a far greater purpose: Sal y Luz.

A non-profit Ministry Hub and Boutique Culinary Marketplace, Sal y Luz is the culmination of a lifelong journey. God has brought my heart and life purpose into perfect alignment, leaving no talent, artistic passion or difficult experience on the table.

This mission is no longer about personal accolades or business profit metrics. It is about pure stewardship for His glory. God guided me to Alabama, connecting the complex dots of my past for this specific Kairos moment.

Following a Pauline tentmaking model, we are establishing an intentional, high-quality marketplace designed to function as a modern-day gathering place and ministry hub.

By incorporating vocational mentorship, we cultivate a space for true community edification, fellowship, and redemptive restoration.

My prayer is that when people cross our threshold, they experience more than honed culinary craft, a pristine Gulf harvest, or the unhurried shalom of Sal y Luz. My ultimate prayer is that they encounter and acknowledge the One who, through His sovereign grace, miraculously designed and created it ALL.